Tim Riley (born 1960) reviews pop and classical music for

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

, and has written for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'',

truthdig Truthdig is an American news website that provides a mix of long-form articles, blog items, curated links, interviews, arts criticism and commentary on current events delivered from a politically progressive, left-leaning point of view. The site of ...

, the ''Huffington Post'', the ''Washington Post'', Slate.com and Salon.com. He was trained as a classical pianist at

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a private liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the oldest coeducational liberal arts college in the United States and the second oldest continuously operating coeducational institute of highe ...

and

Eastman School of Music The Eastman School of Music is the music school of the University of Rochester, a private research university in Rochester, New York. It was established in 1921 by industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman. It offers Bachelor of Music ...

. Since 2009, he has taught digital journalism at

Emerson College Emerson College is a private college with its main campus in Boston, Massachusetts. It also maintains campuses in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California and Well, Limburg, Netherlands ( Kasteel Well). Founded in 1880 by Charles Wesley Emerson as a ...

in Boston.

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

sponsored Riley as its critic-in-residence in 2008. His first book was ''Tell Me Why: A Beatles Commentary'' (Knopf/Vintage 1988), a critique of

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

' music, which ''The New York Times'' said brought "new insight to the act we've known for all these years". The book established Riley as an author of rock history critiques. His television appearances include ''

Morning Joe ''Morning Joe'' is an American morning news and liberal talk show, airing weekdays from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time on the cable news channel MSNBC. It features former Republican Congressman Joe Scarborough reporting and discu ...

'', ''

PBS NewsHour ''PBS NewsHour'' is an American evening television news program broadcast on over 350 PBS member stations. It airs seven nights a week, and is known for its in-depth coverage of issues and current events. Anchored by Judy Woodruff, the pro ...

'', CBS Morning and Evening News, MTV, and the History Channel. Riley gave a keynote address at Beatles 2000, the first international academic conference in

Jyväskylä Jyväskylä () is a city and municipality in Finland in the western part of the Finnish Lakeland. It is located about 150 km north-east from Tampere, the third largest city in Finland; and about 270 km north from Helsinki, the capital of ...

, Finland. Since then, he has given lectures on censorship in the arts and rock history. His subsequent projects include the music metaportal Riley Rock Index and a biography of

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

(Hyperion, 2011), which was included in ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...

list of the Best Nonfiction of 2011. In 2016, the

National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Association National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ...

awarded Riley the Best Book Review Award at LA's Millennium Biltmore Hotel as part of the Los Angeles Press Awards. The honor cited his truthdig.com critique of Peter Guralnick's Sam Phillips biography.

Books

*''Tell Me Why: A Beatles Commentary'' (1988), *''Hard Rain: A Dylan Commentary'' (1992), *''

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

Illustrated'' (1992), *''Fever: How Rock 'n' Roll Transformed Gender in America'' (2004), *''Lennon: The Man, the Myth, the Music - The Definitive Life'' (2011), *''What Goes On: The Beatles, Their Music, and Their Time'' ( Walter Everett and Tim Riley, 2019),

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Riley, Tim Living people 1960 births Writers from Boulder, Colorado People from Concord, Massachusetts American music critics American music historians American male non-fiction writers American biographers Oberlin College alumni Eastman School of Music alumni Emerson College faculty